Smart Energy Plan Economic Development

December 20, 2024

Modern Substation Supports Brewery Expansion and Soulard Residents

Ameren Missouri is building new infrastructure to support reliability for the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis, including a major expansion at Anheuser-Busch.

The brewery has invested more than $160 million in its St. Louis campus in the last five years, adding new production facilities and a workforce development center among other improvements.

To power this new investment, Ameren Missouri is building a modern substation to replace the current one. The existing substation is nearing the end of its expected lifespan – with components such as transformers and breakers originally installed in the 1970s. It also does not have the capacity to reliably handle the new load from the brewery’s expansion project.

The new, three-unit substation is being built on previously vacant land across from the brewery. By building a new substation, Ameren Missouri will avoid lengthy construction times and outages at the current substation and eliminate costly upgrades to underground cables feeding the existing site. Additionally, the current site has space limitations that cannot support the required improvements.

“This project allows us to retire equipment that has been in service for half a century, while providing the necessary, modern infrastructure to support the Soulard area, Anheuser-Busch and its flagship brewery here in St. Louis. Ameren is proud to continue supporting business and economic growth in the area,” says Darnell Sanders, director of the Underground Division for Ameren Missouri.

Given its location on a prominent corner along the busy south Broadway corridor south of downtown St. Louis, the site will include a partial brick enclosure to help it blend seamlessly with the historic architecture of the Anheuser-Busch campus. The new substation, part of Ameren Missouri’s Smart Energy Plan, was placed in service in late 2024.